Fliers with anti-Semitic messages were recently posted on street poles, car windows and elsewhere around Novato and in response, the community has taken a united stand against hate speech.

“This sort of stuff is not tolerated in Novato,” Mayor Eric Lucan said. “When it happens, we’re going to speak up. As you can see, our residents, our community, our city officials are saying there is no room for this type of hate speech and talk in Novato.”

As members of the grassroots group Not In Our Town, Lucan, along with the Novato Police Department, Novato Unified School District and North Marin Community Services, issued a joint statement this week denouncing the act as hate speech.

The Novato Police Department first received reports of the fliers on Sunday. Residents reported seeing the fliers near storefronts, including the downtown Safeway grocery store, and at least a dozen were posted on the San Marin High School campus.

“From a school perspective, our No. 1 priority is always the physical and emotional well-being of our students,” said Kris Cosca, the superintendent of the Novato Unified School District. “That’s got to come first for a healthy learning environment, because when you don’t feel safe you can’t learn.”

“This is contrary to everything we believe in as a school system,” he said, adding that in today’s political climate he felt a responsibility to say something.

“We are very divided as a country,” Cosca said. No matter how many instances of hate there are, he said, “I’m always going to believe that there are far more people who believe in good and do right and care about the people in their community and are embracing people in the community.”

The Novato Police Department began working with Not In Our Town Novato in 2018. The goal was to improve the relationships between law enforcement and the community and to remove barriers for the reporting of hate crimes and hate motivated incidents.

Novato police Chief Adam McGill said the statements on the flier are protected as free speech, so there will be no criminal investigation. But there is a message McGill hopes is heard after all this.

“Stand up to hate, stand up to bullying and speak up when you see things that are hurtful to others,” he said.

In the statement, Patrice O’Neill, CEO and co-founder of NIOT, said, “The solution to hate violence lies with all of us.

“We’ve seen that together, communities can create an atmosphere where hate and bigotry are made unacceptable, and where young people learn to respect differences — not fear them,” she said. “No hate, no fear, no violence; Not In Our Town.”

Nancy Weber, a Novato resident who is a community volunteer and member of the NIOT committee, said she’s happy that city officials and community leaders came together to decry the act.

“We need to stand up together to squash it,” she said. “We can’t stay silent.”

Adrian Rodriguez covers transportation, San Rafael and the Ross Valley for the Marin IJ. He also writes the weekly business column Movers & Shakers, which appears in Friday's paper. Reach the author at arodriguez@marinij.com or follow Adrian on Twitter: @adrianrrodri.